5 mins = £100
Imagine if you were told that 5 minutes tai chi training would earn you £100...
Would you do the exercises? Of course you would.
Yet, people are told that daily home practice = good health, fitness and better
quality of life... and they dismiss it. Curious?This illustration shows how many people value an obvious monetary
reward but are unwilling to appreciate the value of health, vitality and
fitness.

Bargain hunting

When people consider which tai chi class to attend they often treat it
like bargain hunting.
They look for free taster sessions or the
cheapest
class.
This may be fine if you are undertaking a supermarket 'price comparison'.It is not so good for taijiquan.

Buying a pair of shoes, a jar of coffee or a loaf
of bread is not the same as seeking medical treatment or exercising
mindfully.
To make matters worse, people do not always buy clothes that fit (or even suit
their body/skin/hair colour). Health is not shopping.
It should be handled with caution and care...

Lifestyle bias

People invest in expensive
technology, a car that they have to buy on 'hire purchase', bottles of wine,
trips to the coffee shop and expensive holidays.
Yet, they are not willing to spend money on their own
fitness and wellbeing.
A mobile phone will probably date in a couple of years... how
long will your body be with you for?

Short-changing your health

Cheapskating on health whilst enjoying a lavish
lifestyle is essentially
"penny-wise and pound-foolish"
(idiom).
Health should be your priority. Not an afterthought.

Quality is the measurement of worth you apply to something, how good you
consider it to be...
What this means will differ from person to person, as
we all have different values.

Judging

We are educated to discriminate:
this/that, mine/yours, here/there, good/bad,
right/wrong, more/less, hot/cold...
This capacity to pass judgement is cultivated from a
very early age.
Few people think to question its validity.

Doubt

In Taoism the pretence of certainty is highlighted.
We are invited to ask:

A belief introduces a bias, a perspective, and
it alters how you look at the world.
You essentially see what you want to see.
Having opinions, ideas and
preconceptions can make you narrow-minded.

Importance

Once we determine
what is important, we set out to find something that fits our criteria. But what if our values are askew? What happens when we encounter things that we
don't really understand?

I very much enjoy your
sessions - without any false flattery, you have been one of the best
instructors I have had for any martial art. Your commitment, patience and
dedication to the art and your students is something that I believe many
instructors should aspire to. To your credit, Sifu Waller, you have shown me
something that has I did not expect to find in taijiquan... a comprehensive
fighting system in itself. I wish the rest of the MA community would wake up
and see what you see.